Gunmaker To Expand In Tenn. Not MD; O'Malley Not Surprised

House Minority Leader Nic Kipke reacts to Beretta U.S.A's decision to build a new plant in Tennessee, rather than expand their existing plant in Maryland. Download This File

Governor Martin O'Malley was asked by reporters on his Thursday if he was surprised at the Beretta USA announcement. Download This File

Governor Martin O'Malley says that he is not surprised Italian gun maker Beretta decided to build its new manufacturing and research facility in Tennessee, and not expand its existing factory in Prince George's County.

"They've been threatening that for a long time, and that whenever they did it, they'd make a political point out of it, so it's a free country, " O'Malley told reporters Thursday morning, one day after the company made its announcement.

The $45 million plant in the Nashville suburb of Gallatin is projected to create 300 new jobs.

The family-owned company has operated in Italy since 1526. Beretta makes a variety of firearms, ranging from hunting shotguns to the U.S. Armed Forces M-9 pistol.

Several states began wooing Beretta from Maryland after the company raised objections to a wide-ranging gun control measure enacted there last year. Company officials said Wednesday that have reached capacity in Maryland, requiring the expansion elsewhere.

The company operates a manufacturing plant in Prince George's County, which it says it will keep open.

"Our plan at this point is to continue operations in Maryland and use the new factory for production expansion," said Ryan Muety, Beretta's Vice President of Marketing on Wednesday in an email to WBAL News.

Maryland's gun control law allows the company to manufacture weapons banned under the law, and the company can ship them to out of state customers.

Beretta said it plans to complete the new facility this year.

“From the moment when we started to consider a location outside of the State of Maryland for our manufacturing expansion, Governor(Bill) Haslam and his economic development team did an excellent job demonstrating the benefits of doing business in Tennessee. We are convinced we could find no better place than Tennessee to establish our new manufacturing enterprise. We look forward to building operations here and being part of your community for many years to come,” said Franco Gussalli Beretta, Vice President and Managing Director of Fabbrica D Armi S.p.A and Executive Vice President of Beretta USA, in a company news release.

In Annapolis, House Minority Leader Nic Kipke blamed Maryland's gun control law and its businesses taxes for leading to Beretta's decision not to expand in Maryland.

"It's very sad. It's a sad day for Maryland that Beretta which has been a proud Maryland employer for many years is deciding to make investments elsewhere," Kipke told WBAL News.

Reacting to Beretta's decision, Nina Smith, press secretary for Governor Martin O'Malley said Wednesday, "We appreciate Beretta’s continued presence here in Maryland, and their commitment to Prince George's County and our State. Private sector business is driving economic growth in Maryland; we created over seven thousand jobs last month, and have created over 36,000 jobs since December 2012. We'll continue to work with members of our business community to create jobs and expand opportunity for more Marylanders."

On Thursday, the governor made no mention of the state's new gun control law, or any economic effects on Maryland by Beretta's decision.

"Since the recession hit, we've had the best rate of new job creation than any state in the region. I know it's hard to report on that," O'Malley told reporters.